What survives a Florida foreclosure sale

A foreclosure sale gives the buyer what the foreclosing lender could take: the owner's title, minus the liens that were junior to the foreclosed mortgage and whose holders were named in the case. Everything else stays with the house.

That leaves two questions for every line in the records. Was it recorded before the mortgage being foreclosed? And was its holder a defendant? Some debts skip both questions because the law ranks them above any mortgage.

Anything recorded before the foreclosed mortgage

A second mortgage or HELOC lender sometimes forecloses while the first mortgage is still unpaid. The first mortgage survives that sale in full. The same goes for any judgment or lien recorded before the mortgage being foreclosed. Check the plaintiff's mortgage date against everything else in the report, not just the amounts.

Property taxes and tax certificates

Property taxes are a first lien on the land, ahead of every mortgage (F.S. 197.122). Unpaid years and any tax certificates sold on them stay with the property. If a tax deed application is already pending, the house can be sold again for taxes.

Assessments on the tax bill, including PACE

Special assessments billed with the taxes rank with them. PACE financing for solar, roofs or windows is collected this way, so it follows the house (F.S. 163.08). A solar loan secured by a UCC fixture filing is different: it is a private lien on the panels, and what happens to it depends on the filing and on whether the lender was named in the case.

HOA and condo assessments

A third-party buyer at a foreclosure sale owes the association every assessment that came due up to the transfer, together with the former owner (F.S. 720.3085 for HOAs, 718.116 for condos). The limit of 12 months or 1% of the loan that you may have read about protects the first mortgage lender when it takes the property itself. It does not protect you.

Liens whose holders were left out of the case

A junior lien recorded before the lis pendens survives if its holder was not made a defendant. The buyer can then make the holder redeem or foreclose again, and if the house is worth more than the debt, the holder may simply pay off the sale and take the property (Abdoney v. York, Fla. 2d DCA 2005). Compare the defendants in the complaint with the open items in the report.

Liens recorded after the lis pendens work the other way. The recorded lis pendens bars every interest and lien that was not of record when it was filed, federal tax liens included, unless the holder asked to join the case within 30 days. Once the case goes to a judicial sale, the property is free of them (F.S. 48.23(1)(d)). Tenants in possession and easements of use are the exception.

Federal liens

When the United States holds a junior lien and is named in the case, it keeps a right to redeem the property after the sale: one year for a federal mortgage or judgment, such as a HUD partial claim or reverse-mortgage second mortgage, an SBA or a USDA loan, and 120 days for an IRS tax lien (28 U.S.C. 2410(c)). Expect that delay before you can resell.

If the United States was not named, an IRS lien whose notice was filed before the suit began stays on the property untouched (26 U.S.C. 7425(a)). One filed after the lis pendens is cut off like any other late lien.

City code cases and utility bills

A code enforcement lien has no priority over a mortgage recorded before it: a city cannot give its code liens super-priority by ordinance (City of Palm Bay v. Wells Fargo, Fla. 2013). A recorded code lien junior to the mortgage is cut off if the city was named in the case or if it was recorded after the lis pendens. A code lien recorded before the foreclosed mortgage stays. A tax deed sale is different: city and county liens of record survive it (F.S. 197.552). The violation itself is a condition of the property, so the new owner has to cure it.

Water and sewer charges can become a lien on the land without anything being recorded, and some statutes rank these liens with property taxes (F.S. 159.17, 153.67). Ask the utility that serves the parcel for a balance.

Before you bid

• Find the plaintiff's mortgage and list everything recorded before it.
• Check taxes, certificates and any pending tax deed application.
• Ask the HOA or condo association for an estoppel figure.
• Match the defendants in the complaint against the open items.
• Look up open code cases and the utility account for the address.

This post is general information about Florida law as of October 2026. It is not legal advice about a specific property.